Anita Kelly > Quotes

“And it was hard to explain. That they didn't want to be a man, but that they had never felt quite right as a girl. That they only started to feel really okay when they understood they could be their own thing. That they could exist in a space that was all their own, that they could shift and adjust until it felt right. They had settled on nonbinary feeling right for them, even though they knew others like them had their own names that felt right to their own experiences. And that was comforting too. That each person could choose what brought them closer to belonging, the power in that. Knowing that one day, people might discover even better words for it. That there was only ever freedom in continuing to find new names for who we were, who we could be.”
― Anita Kelly, Love & Other Disasters

“That each person could choose what brought them closest to belonging, the power in that. Knowing that one day, people might discover even better words for it. That there was only ever freedom in continuing to find new names for who we were, who we could be.”
― Anita Kelly, Love & Other Disasters

“Do they miss me?

Does it count if the person they miss isn’t actually me? ​​​”
― Anita Kelly, Something Wild & Wonderful

“Why, instead of working at getting over the greatest loss he’d ever known, had Alexei simply collected more people to lose?”
― Anita Kelly, Something Wild & Wonderful

“But that when it came to identity, when it came to queerness, the whole point was that there were no tryouts. If you were even thinking about it, you were already on the team. That labels weren’t meant to confine, only to bring comfort to those for whom they were useful.”
― Anita Kelly, How You Get the Girl

“I just want my life to be big, you know?” Dahlia’s brown eyes were unfocused. “Like…like the way your favorite song feels, when you’re sixteen. I want my life to feel like that. I want to feel big. I want to do messy, wild things, things I’ll remember, things that are interesting.”
― Anita Kelly, Love & Other Disasters

“You can be happy and still feel like you don’t really know what the fuck you’re doing.”
― Anita Kelly, How You Get the Girl

“I was very good at being thirsty. Less successful at the actual drinking part.”
― Anita Kelly, Sing Anyway

“They taught me that even when you mess up, you try again, until you get it right. That love is a constant, lifelong effort to perfect your favorite recipe.”
― Anita Kelly, How You Get the Girl

“Did you know that some scientists call the paths animals and humans make all over the world, that divert from the carefully planned and constructed roads of civilization, desire lines?”
― Anita Kelly, Something Wild & Wonderful

“Maybe of all the things we went through in life, getting old was the luckiest of them all.”
― Anita Kelly, Wherever Is Your Heart

“That the world Alexei’s parents believed in wasn’t the real world at all. At least, it wasn’t the world that mattered. And there was so much good in the world that did.”
― Anita Kelly, Something Wild & Wonderful

“Come on, Sam. You’re always spellbound when she sings. And there was also the fact that the last time we were at Moonie’s, at the end of the night when you were really drunk, you kept talking about how you wanted her to step on your face. Or something. I don’t remember the exact phrasing, but it was entertaining.”
― Anita Kelly, Sing Anyway

“Maybe all love was a surprise, followed by practice. A step out of comfort zones, followed by hard work. Lurking in all the places you didn't expect, places that become a forever part of you.”
― Anita Kelly, How You Get the Girl

“Show me your quiet parts, Lily. You have no idea how much I would like to be maybe-a-little-boring together.”
― Anita Kelly, Sing Anyway

“When something really fits,” she said carefully, “You suddenly realize how much energy you’ve been unconsciously devoting to not fitting.”
― Anita Kelly, Sing Anyway

“Well,” Lizzie huffed again. “Here I was, just trying to talk. They call us the intolerant ones. I swear.”
― Anita Kelly, Love & Other Disasters

“Possible cow names. Obviously.”
― Anita Kelly, Love & Other Disasters

“How Alanna and Thom both reject society’s expectations of them. Alanna’s refusal to live as someone she didn’t want to be. She was so…fearless.”
― Anita Kelly, Something Wild & Wonderful

“London wanted to lift that hand and run their tongue along that scar.”
― Anita Kelly, Love & Other Disasters

“They were small things, in the end. Pronouns were such tiny words. A dab of makeup, when I felt like it. A different piece of fabric. But it was so nice. Having options.”
― Anita Kelly, Sing Anyway

“That’s all history is. Knowing that you know nothing, but being stubborn enough to still want to try to learn something, if you can.”
― Anita Kelly, Sing Anyway

“every new appointment, each new thing, seemed to fall during business hours. Elle wasn’t sure how other working foster parents managed it. How any parent managed anything, really.”
― Anita Kelly, How You Get the Girl

“Sure, they would have wanted her regardless, but they could have done it quietly. Unexpressed longing was a skill they were good at.”
― Anita Kelly, Love & Other Disasters

“Mm.” They kissed my forehead. “Either way, I find it very hard to believe that you will disappoint me. Show me your quiet parts, Lily. You have no idea how much I would like to be maybe-a-little-boring together.”
― Anita Kelly, Sing Anyway

“A perfect picture: Lily in the Fall. I wanted to cuddle her to death.”
― Anita Kelly, Sing Anyway

“You’ve always known what you wanted, and even more than that, you follow through on getting it.”
― Anita Kelly, Love & Other Disasters

“But it turns out that grief, mental health, dealing with failure—all of it—is always cyclical, never something you can fully put behind you at all.”
― Anita Kelly, How You Get the Girl

“how comforting it must be for them to know you are listening with your whole heart.”
― Anita Kelly, Something Wild & Wonderful

“But even though I had stopped drinking after that last gin & tonic at the bar, I kept getting drunker on Sam anyway, like they were seeping steadily into my bloodstream with each open admission of vulnerability, each shy smile, each horribly belted song.”
― Anita Kelly, Sing Anyway